Collected Maxims and Other Reflections: with parallel French text (Oxford World's Classics) [Paperback]

Fran^cois de La Rochefoucauld (Author), E.H. Blackmore (Translator), A.M. Blackmore (Translator), Francine Giguï¿1/2re (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2007 | ISBN-10: 0192806491 | ISBN-13: 978-0192806499 | Edition: Bilingual

Deceptively brief and insidiously easy to read, La Rochefoucauld's shrewd, unflattering analyses of human behavior have influenced writers, thinkers, and public figures as various as Voltaire, Proust, de Gaulle, Nietzsche, and Conan Doyle.
This is the fullest collection of La Rochefoucauld's writings ever published in English, and includes the first complete translation of the R�flexions diverses (Miscellaneous Reflections). This edition includes an excellent introduction that surveys La Rochefoucauld's life, the genesis of his work, its form and content, and its influence, as well as comprehensive explanatory notes. A table of alternative maxim numbers and an extensive and invaluable index of topics help the reader to locate any maxim quickly and to appreciate the full range of La Rochefoucauld's thought on any of his favorite themes, such as self-love, vice and virtue, love and jealousy, friendship and self-interest, passion and pride.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This superb publication of La Rouchefoucauld's seminal 'Maxims' combines the erudition and comprehensiveness of a scholarly edition with the welcoming accessibility of a first-class textbook. Kevin De Ornellas, University of Ulster

About the Author

H. Blackmore, A.M. Blackmore, and Francine Gigu�re are all freelance writers and translators.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; Bilingual edition (April 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192806491
• ISBN-13: 978-0192806499
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,883,048 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maxims, February 28, 2009

By 

Richie Whitehead (Knoxville, TN) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Collected Maxims and Other Reflections (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

I write this largely to counteract the effect of the other reviewer, whose review has to do with the book's preparation for Kindle rather than the content of the book itself.

I will say first that, having read both, more than once, I prefer Penguin's translation. That said, this volume is more comprehensive and, if I recall correctly, represents the largest collection of La Rochefoucauld's writings in English.

They are masterfully composed, his maxims, and represent a somewhat cynical view of human nature, grounded in a belief in egoism. In essence, everything we do, we do from vanity or self-interest. Not that La Rochefoucauld is the first or last person to think this, but he thinks his thoughts more succinctly and pithily than most, and is well-worth reading for the philosophically inclined. However, the book shouldn't be thought rigorous or hard -- it isn't. It's not Spinoza, but it has a charm all its own. I will reiterate, however, than I prefer Penguin's translation which is older, smoother, and somewhat more literary.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is difficult for me to imagine getting more for $9., January 9, 2012

By 

John Lysaker (Atlanta, Georgia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Collected Maxims and Other Reflections (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

The editors/translators have given us a first rate edition of a remarkable text for an unbelievable price. This reads like a critical edition. The editors have gone back to original editions, compared them, and made judicious selections on that basis, producing the most complete edition of these maxims in English. The translation is a strong one and not intrusive in any way. One may prefer another, I suppose, but I found little lacking. I also found the Introduction very helpful and the notes useful although optional, which allows a reader to proceed in as scholarly a manner as s/he sees fit. Rochefoucaud's wit and insight are leading examples of aphoristic thought. He is a brilliant moral psychologist and an elegant and economical stylist. Aspects of his thought remain dated, of course, e.g. his remarks on women and his obliviousness to class privilege, but the text offers so much more than those failings that it fully deserves the label "World Classic."

11 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Poorly prepared for Kindle, June 17, 2010

By 

John M. Robinson "jakeboyo" (Alameda, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Collected Maxims and Other Reflections: with parallel French text (Oxford World's Classics) (Kindle Edition)

This would be an excellent version of La Rochefoucauld's Maxims if it had been properly hypertexted for the Kindle, unfortunately, it is not. There are no links to the notes at the back, the table of contents is only partly hypertexted (the prefatory matter can be accessed directly, but you can't go straight to the first page of the text for example). Also there are odd gaps in the text as displayed where a date may have an inappropriate space in it (for example 1 642 for the year 1642). Someone needs to go back and do a better job on this item.